Good video but there is a mistake you made at the very end when you tighten the control arms bolts. They should always be tighten at working position or prior to assembly at specific position so when the car is on it’s wheels there is no tension in control arms rubber pads. The easiest way to do it is to underlay something beneath the bearing housing and lower the car until whole assembly is in working position and then tight the bolts.
Nice video, thanks. Will be doing this myself tonight. Towards the end when you’re putting the control arms back into the spindle, using that big ass set of pliers, it would have been nice to know what exactly you were doing. Other than that, very informative and straight forward vid!
Nice videos, just wondering if you could do a video on replacing a ebrake cable? if I am right.. dont quote me on this one side you need to take apart the exhaust or something?
The method of heating the spindle to remove the pinch bolt does work but it is not the best at you stated in your video. It will work but the best method is buying a specialty tool that pushed against the spindle and uses a rod to push the bolt out. This method works 100% of the time and requires no heat or no damage to anything.
I did one just the other day. I just haven’t had the time to edit it, and upload it yet. It was a very difficult video to film because of space constraints.
If you get a manual it will have torque specs, and then you can buy or rent a torque wrench. That is probably the best advice I can give you. Good luck on your projects…=)
It took about an hour. Nothing else has become harder to do, for the most part. Just the upper control arms & tie rod ends because of the cross bolts that can become frozen in.
Also, how do you know when the bolts are tightened properly?…noob questions but i’m trying to learn how to do all this suspension work myself. gotta love youtube
Good job with the video…how long did this take? Also, has it become harder to do jobs like this with newer models? (Control arms, tie rods, wheel bearing, CV joint, you know, typical Audi wear and tear lol) Thanks
if your going to use heat… hit the red hot bolt with a shot of oil it, will come out a whole lot easier… ….also just take out the assembly first and use your impack or breaker bar….anyway you got the job finished.
Yeah, that bolt can be a bitch. That is why I made this video. If you pound on it for five minutes, and it dose not move, torch/or a press is the only option.
Thanks for your comment…=) & good luck to you, on the drilling thing.
I have spent 6 hours today on my passenger side Audi A4 doing the upper and lower control arms.. I did the lowers fine but the damn pinch bolt beat me. Spent 4 hours on that thing and still no luck. I was a bit weary of using heat but I think I’ll give it a go on the other side, going to have to drill out the passenger side though..
Is there an issue with pre-load when you are reinstalling/tightening the pinch bolt? Would it be best to keep it loose before getting the car back on wheels, then tightening it when it is at normal ride height?
So people could laugh at me.You’re the ignorant person. All I did was give a suggestion and you took it personal. 3 months ago and it’s still under your skin. Just said you heat the metal on the outside to expand and try to keep the bolt cool so it can slip out easier. I guess breaking good parts is easier for you.
You obviously, didn’t read his other comment…” Marcel Schumacher 4 days ago
“It´s all about luck When you have it, you gave this fuckin bolt a bad view, and it will spring in your arms… When it´s a bad day… You can beat with a normal hammer 2 Days nonstop, and this bold is laughing to you!”. What he was saying, is sometimes there is no other choice, but to use the torch. jolmeaki, I left your ignorant comment up, so people could laugh at you!…=)
Thanks for the reply. Like hearing from other countrys. I just didn’t see the point in burning the good one to get the bad one out. He’s making his customers buy parts that were never broke till he started working on them. You have a good method.
It´s all about luck… When you have it, you gave this fuckin bolt a bad view, and it will spring in your arms… When it´s a bad day… You can beat with a normal hammer 2 Days nonstop, and this bold is laughing to you!
Takin THIS Bolt out is a pain in the ass! i personally dont like using the Torch-method. It works, yeah. But burning Rubber (Balljointboots) is a pain in the ass too ;o) It smells like dinosaur-shit ;o) For this operation, i personally use a very very good shot of penetraitingoil, screw the nut a few threads on, and then beat the shit out of this bolt with my air-hammer. when it´s broke loose, the rest of work is childplay… Sorry for my english, i´m from cologne, germany 🙂
Your video really gave me an education of the Audi A4-Passat B5.5 front suspension. I have always heard alot about how hard the pinch bolt is to take out and loosen, now I really understand the struggle with this thing. Thanks!
Thanks for the video, feel more confident trying this repair myself now. Except for the “fire wrench” part lol. Do you think I might get lucky and be able to get it out with repetative and prolonged soaking with rust-penetrating oil? I think i’ll try that first since I have nothing but time, then maybe fire wrench?
Im not a mechanic. Rent some of the tools I don’t have like an engine hoist. Then do the work in the garage or driveway. I work 7 days a week so it does take longer then suppose to. Would not claim to be the best. Just giving a suggestion and the guy wanted to be a jerk. Use to help my father and grandfather since 93 on GM small and big blocks.
I had that pinch bolt seized up before, but I sprayed it good with wd40 and waited 30 min before doing any work on it. This had helped release many seized up components in my experience and I would only use torch as a last resort. That bolt can also be cut through the gap with dremel tool and drilled out from one end. Heat from drilling would help releasing as well. Penetrating oil such as wd40, combined with mechanical action does help.
Wow, taking it personal are we. I don’t have to be in the automotive industry to notice stupid. I have a 00 a4 quattro and did the control arms with no heat. I did the whole timing belt kit and rear wheel bearings. I have done a vvl swap on my 92 sentra and a whole new suspension. Im 32 been bs around. Good day.
You, obviously, are not in the automotive industry. This video, showed the worst case scenario, and how to deal with it. I know you have no idea of what you’re talking about, and I don’t hold that against you. I’ve done this for over 35 years, and how old are you?, and how long have you worked on cars? Your theory only works, under ideal circumstances. Peace…
Your suppose to put the nut at the end of the bolt then hammer. It also looks like to much heat. You could be making the bolt expand to defeating the purpose.
Your idea is good, but unfortunately that won’t work. In this case, there is to much heat, and the spherical joint on the control arm, is destroyed 100% of the time. I use wet rags on a lot things, but there is no point doing that, on this particular job.
ah cool. so if the customer had not shown up the bolts would have just slid in the other way round with ease? I have had fun changing all the arms on the UK drivers side, that bolt was a real pain to get out too, track rod ends can also be fun when they have been on the car for most of its life, i have the passengers side to do next, just buying all the new bits over a couple of months as i like to get the top end stuff rather than the cheap ones, i’m running at 220k miles on a 2.5TDI Quatrro Sp
About the bolts: The customer had just arrived, and I was running late. I misplaced my Channel locks pliers, and I needed them in order to compress the spring slightly, in order to get the bolts in. As far as the grease: You can use just about any heavy grease (Wheel Bearing Grease), and or Never-Seez. The reason for this is to hopefully prevent the bolt from rusting, and becoming stuck again.
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Good video but there is a mistake you made at the very end when you tighten the control arms bolts. They should always be tighten at working position or prior to assembly at specific position so when the car is on it’s wheels there is no tension in control arms rubber pads. The easiest way to do it is to underlay something beneath the bearing housing and lower the car until whole assembly is in working position and then tight the bolts.
Any tips on what to do since my pinch bolt head broke. Now I am.stuck and dontknow what to do
Nice video, thanks. Will be doing this myself tonight. Towards the end when you’re putting the control arms back into the spindle, using that big ass set of pliers, it would have been nice to know what exactly you were doing. Other than that, very informative and straight forward vid!
Nice videos, just wondering if you could do a video on replacing a ebrake cable? if I am right.. dont quote me on this one side you need to take apart the exhaust or something?
Holly crap!, your diction is worse than mine. It’s WD-40!, and that shit is totally useless…
dubba d 40 always works..
The method of heating the spindle to remove the pinch bolt does work but it is not the best at you stated in your video. It will work but the best method is buying a specialty tool that pushed against the spindle and uses a rod to push the bolt out. This method works 100% of the time and requires no heat or no damage to anything.
I did one just the other day. I just haven’t had the time to edit it, and upload it yet. It was a very difficult video to film because of space constraints.
Thanks man…you should do a timing belt and water pump vid!!
If you get a manual it will have torque specs, and then you can buy or rent a torque wrench. That is probably the best advice I can give you. Good luck on your projects…=)
It took about an hour. Nothing else has become harder to do, for the most part. Just the upper control arms & tie rod ends because of the cross bolts that can become frozen in.
Thanks for watching & commenting…=)
Also, how do you know when the bolts are tightened properly?…noob questions but i’m trying to learn how to do all this suspension work myself. gotta love youtube
Good job with the video…how long did this take? Also, has it become harder to do jobs like this with newer models? (Control arms, tie rods, wheel bearing, CV joint, you know, typical Audi wear and tear lol) Thanks
The three on the top are 16mm, and the bolt, and nut on the bottom are 18mm
‘s.
Uff da, he got smash by a feather 🙂
Greetings from Norway, thx for the knowledge-sharing video !
what size sockets and spanners did you use?What size did you use for the bolt on the shock?
what size sockets and spanners did you use?What size did you use for the bolt on the shock?
if your going to use heat… hit the red hot bolt with a shot of oil it, will come out a whole lot easier… ….also just take out the assembly first and use your impack or breaker bar….anyway you got the job finished.
No…
Yeah, that bolt can be a bitch. That is why I made this video. If you pound on it for five minutes, and it dose not move, torch/or a press is the only option.
Thanks for your comment…=) & good luck to you, on the drilling thing.
I have spent 6 hours today on my passenger side Audi A4 doing the upper and lower control arms.. I did the lowers fine but the damn pinch bolt beat me. Spent 4 hours on that thing and still no luck. I was a bit weary of using heat but I think I’ll give it a go on the other side, going to have to drill out the passenger side though..
Thanks for the video!
Is there an issue with pre-load when you are reinstalling/tightening the pinch bolt? Would it be best to keep it loose before getting the car back on wheels, then tightening it when it is at normal ride height?
So people could laugh at me.You’re the ignorant person. All I did was give a suggestion and you took it personal. 3 months ago and it’s still under your skin. Just said you heat the metal on the outside to expand and try to keep the bolt cool so it can slip out easier. I guess breaking good parts is easier for you.
I made this video, to show the worst case scenario. I hope it helped…=) Thanks for commenting…=)
Anny time bro…lol
You obviously, didn’t read his other comment…” Marcel Schumacher 4 days ago
“It´s all about luck When you have it, you gave this fuckin bolt a bad view, and it will spring in your arms… When it´s a bad day… You can beat with a normal hammer 2 Days nonstop, and this bold is laughing to you!”. What he was saying, is sometimes there is no other choice, but to use the torch. jolmeaki, I left your ignorant comment up, so people could laugh at you!…=)
is not your car, right? if you do this (up to 0:10 … ) to my car I kick your …..
Thanks for the reply. Like hearing from other countrys. I just didn’t see the point in burning the good one to get the bad one out. He’s making his customers buy parts that were never broke till he started working on them. You have a good method.
Please make a video, of how you do this? I would love to see it…=)
It´s all about luck… When you have it, you gave this fuckin bolt a bad view, and it will spring in your arms… When it´s a bad day… You can beat with a normal hammer 2 Days nonstop, and this bold is laughing to you!
Takin THIS Bolt out is a pain in the ass! i personally dont like using the Torch-method. It works, yeah. But burning Rubber (Balljointboots) is a pain in the ass too ;o) It smells like dinosaur-shit ;o) For this operation, i personally use a very very good shot of penetraitingoil, screw the nut a few threads on, and then beat the shit out of this bolt with my air-hammer. when it´s broke loose, the rest of work is childplay… Sorry for my english, i´m from cologne, germany 🙂
I would never recommend doing what you did at 8:50 to anyone…you bent the knuckles open…and especially on a cast piece like that…weakens it.
I just use a small spreader and they pop right out…
Your video really gave me an education of the Audi A4-Passat B5.5 front suspension. I have always heard alot about how hard the pinch bolt is to take out and loosen, now I really understand the struggle with this thing. Thanks!
Thanks for the video, feel more confident trying this repair myself now. Except for the “fire wrench” part lol. Do you think I might get lucky and be able to get it out with repetative and prolonged soaking with rust-penetrating oil? I think i’ll try that first since I have nothing but time, then maybe fire wrench?
Im not a mechanic. Rent some of the tools I don’t have like an engine hoist. Then do the work in the garage or driveway. I work 7 days a week so it does take longer then suppose to. Would not claim to be the best. Just giving a suggestion and the guy wanted to be a jerk. Use to help my father and grandfather since 93 on GM small and big blocks.
You should make some videos.
so im bout to perform this act on my car tomorw because im trying to lower my audi a4…but iono if im down to torch my car bro
ya but u really just put yo audi on fire bro
Nice job man! Great video! U just saved me mad money!! Lol thanks
Torching the hell out of it, works, every time…=)
I had that pinch bolt seized up before, but I sprayed it good with wd40 and waited 30 min before doing any work on it. This had helped release many seized up components in my experience and I would only use torch as a last resort. That bolt can also be cut through the gap with dremel tool and drilled out from one end. Heat from drilling would help releasing as well. Penetrating oil such as wd40, combined with mechanical action does help.
Wow, taking it personal are we. I don’t have to be in the automotive industry to notice stupid. I have a 00 a4 quattro and did the control arms with no heat. I did the whole timing belt kit and rear wheel bearings. I have done a vvl swap on my 92 sentra and a whole new suspension. Im 32 been bs around. Good day.
You, obviously, are not in the automotive industry. This video, showed the worst case scenario, and how to deal with it. I know you have no idea of what you’re talking about, and I don’t hold that against you. I’ve done this for over 35 years, and how old are you?, and how long have you worked on cars? Your theory only works, under ideal circumstances. Peace…
Your suppose to put the nut at the end of the bolt then hammer. It also looks like to much heat. You could be making the bolt expand to defeating the purpose.
Your idea is good, but unfortunately that won’t work. In this case, there is to much heat, and the spherical joint on the control arm, is destroyed 100% of the time. I use wet rags on a lot things, but there is no point doing that, on this particular job.
i always wrap a wet towel around any pieces around the one i am torching… why risk burning stuff you’re not aiming at?
who’s the retard now!
ah cool. so if the customer had not shown up the bolts would have just slid in the other way round with ease? I have had fun changing all the arms on the UK drivers side, that bolt was a real pain to get out too, track rod ends can also be fun when they have been on the car for most of its life, i have the passengers side to do next, just buying all the new bits over a couple of months as i like to get the top end stuff rather than the cheap ones, i’m running at 220k miles on a 2.5TDI Quatrro Sp
About the bolts: The customer had just arrived, and I was running late. I misplaced my Channel locks pliers, and I needed them in order to compress the spring slightly, in order to get the bolts in. As far as the grease: You can use just about any heavy grease (Wheel Bearing Grease), and or Never-Seez. The reason for this is to hopefully prevent the bolt from rusting, and becoming stuck again.